Organ & tissue donation FAQS

A single donor can save the lives of up to eight people waiting for organ transplants, and more than 75 people in need of tissue transplants—for example, helping burn victims heal, athletes and military personnel recover from injuries, and others to walk or see again. Here’s how.

A single organ donor can save up to eight lives by donating his or her heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas and small intestine.

• Heart transplants save the lives of those with heart disease, or congenital and hypertensive cardiomyopathy.
• Kidney transplants save patients with end-stage kidney failure and usually on dialysis as a result of hypertension, diabetes or polycystic kidney disease.
• Intestine transplants are life-saving for those with short bowel syndrome.
• Liver transplants save people suffering from chronic hepatitis, liver tumors or cirrhosis.
• Lung transplants save the lives of patients unable to breathe due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema or cystic fibrosis.
• Pancreas transplants are a last option for those with Type 1 diabetes that cannot be successfully treated without a transplant.

A donor can also donate gifts of tissues that save lives or help people see, walk or regain a life of mobility or without pain.

• Bone and tendon replacement saves limbs, or replaces and reconstructs tissue destroyed by tumors, trauma, infection or degenerative disease.
• Cornea and eye tissue donation restores eyesight for patients with corneal damage or other blinding diseases and conditions.
• A donated heart valve or vessel can replace a patient’s damaged tissue, allowing their hearts to function again.
• Skin grafts for patients with severe burns, trauma or surgical wounds are a life-saving measure, and they benefit those in need of cleft palate repair or mastectomy reconstruction. When skin is donated, the top layer of skin is removed typically from the back of the body, and does not affect the donor’s appearance or viewing at a funeral service).

More than 85% of people waiting for life-saving organ transplants are waiting for donated kidneys due to chronic kidney disease or end-stage renal disease brought on by diabetes, chronic uncontrolled high blood pressure and other health issues.

Donated tissue of all types is needed for many types of common surgeries. They include corneas to help patients regain their eyesight, bone for fusion surgeries or bone replacement to avoid amputation, tendons to rebuild joints, heart valves to repair cardiac defects, veins to restore circulation and skin to help burn victims heal.

Virtually anyone regardless of age, race or gender can become an organ and tissue donor. In fact, in 2024, a World War II and Korean War veteran and longtime educator became an organ donor at age 95.

Medical eligibility to donate depends on many factors that can be evaluated only at the time of death. Don’t rule yourself out – it is possible to have an illness or disease that does not affect organ function or healthy tissues and allows you to donate after your death to save and heal the lives of others.

The surgical recovery of donated organs must take place at a hospital immediately after death, to maintain organ viability and transport these gifts of life to patients for immediate transplantation. Unlike organs that must be recovered and transplanted immediately, donated tissues may be recovered within a short timeframe after death, require additional medical testing and may be preserved until provided for a patient in need.

There is no cost to the donor’s family or estate. Federally designated organ procurement organizations such as Gift of Hope are highly regulated, and cover all costs associated with the donation. Organ and tissue donation is a gift. It is illegal in the United States to buy or sell organs or tissue.

The vast majority of religious and faith-based traditions support donation as the highest gesture of humanitarianism and final act of love and generosity to others. Many have passed resolutions and adopted positions that encourage people to seriously consider donation and plan accordingly.

To learn more, visit our Faith Communities page.

An open-casket visitation, burial or cremation occurs as usual following donation. Gift of Hope is committed to respectful, compassionate and culturally sensitive care for every donor and every donor family. We work closely with the surgeons and medical professionals involved before and throughout the donation process, as well as funeral directors, to ensure that the recovery of organs and tissues is timely and does not interfere with the family’s plans.

Donors are treated with great dignity and respect throughout the donation process. Skilled surgeons and medical professionals recover organs and tissue in a surgical procedure that does not interfere with customary funeral arrangements.

Organs must be recovered as soon as possible after death has been declared to maintain the viability of the organs for successful transplant. Tissue may be recovered within 24 hours after death to be safely transplanted.

• A hospital notifies Gift of Hope that all efforts to save a patient’s life have been exhausted; the patient will not survive and Gift of Hope evaluates medical eligibility for donation.
• Gift of Hope meets with the potential donor’s family to discuss donation following their loved one’s death. This includes review of their loved one’s registered decision to donate. If the patient has not authorized donation as a registered donor and left the decision to family members, the legal next-of-kin must provide authorization.
• A complete medical history and evaluation takes place.
• Potential matching recipients are identified and confirmed.
• Surgical recovery of donated gifts takes place in an OR.
• These donated gifts of life are transported to the transplant centers where recipients undergo transplant surgery.
• If the patient is a tissue donor, surgical recovery of these donated gifts takes place.
• Gift of Hope maintains updates and communication with the family, coordinates timing and transportation with the funeral home, and provides follow-up and support to the donor’s family for as long as they seek it.

Unlike organs that must be transplanted immediately, donated tissues require additional medical testing and may be preserved until provided for a patient in need.

Sometimes a donated gift cannot be provided for transplantation as intended, for any number of reasons. For example, an organ transplant candidate may be medically unable to withstand surgery at the last minute, and it is too late to locate another patient who is a match. When donated gifts cannot be transplanted, with a family’s informed permission, Gift of Hope provides these gifts to designated medical education and research institutions to ensure that the donor’s gifts are honored and benefit lives in advancing the science of medicines and therapies to treat and cure a variety of diseases and disorders.

No. Donation is not considered and Gift of Hope is not notified until a hospital has exhausted all possible efforts to save a patient’s life. Transplant teams are also completely separate from the hospital teams providing patient care and from Gift of Hope, and notified only after death has occurred and Gift of Hope has confirmed authorization for donation and that donation is medically viable.

Organs may be transported hundreds or thousands of miles to reach recipients waiting in transplant centers thanks to advances in medical technology and improved preservation techniques. Approximate preservation times are:

• Heart and lungs: 6 to 8 hours
• Liver, pancreas and intestine: 8 to 12 hours
• Kidneys: 36 hours
• Corneas: Must be transplanted within 5 to 7 days
• Heart valves, skin, bone, saphenous veins: 3 to 10 years

Yes. Body size is critical to match donor and recipient hearts, livers and lungs, but genetic makeup also is important when matching kidneys.

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), an independent, federally designated organization, manages the national waiting list for transplant candidates and the system for matching recipients to donated organs. The system identifies recipients through a comprehensive evaluation of medical compatibility, assessing criteria such as body size, blood type, medical urgency and geographic location. The system does not consider recipients’ social or financial positions when determining who receives transplants.

When an individual donates organs after their death, Gift of Hope works with UNOS to identify potential recipients who are a “match” and at the top of the list for each donated organ based on the national system and criteria. Gift of Hope then works with the transplant center for each potential recipient to coordinate transportation of the recovered organ to the transplant candidate for surgery.

If the donor’s family is aware of a family member or friend in need of a transplant, a “directed donation” may be requested. Gift of Hope will work to confirm and coordinate the donation to that individual if it is possible. If it is not possible, donated gifts will be placed with recipients in accordance with the national system through UNOS.

Knowing that others’ lives were saved and helped through donation provides many families with comfort as they grieve the loss of their loved one following donation. Within a few weeks, Gift of Hope’s Donor Family Services team will send a letter to the family with information confirming organs and tissues that were donated, and the outcome along with general information about recipients who immediately received transplants.

Identities remain confidential unless the family and recipients choose to share their information. Gift of Hope also helps families and recipients who correspond or even meet when they agree the time is right.

To ensure that your decision to donate is honored, you can register your legal decision to be a donor in a confidential donor registry.  Each state maintains a registry, in addition to a national registry that is managed by Donate Life America. After you register, if you change your mind for any reason, you can contact the registry where you registered to ask that your name is removed. Click here to learn more and register your decision to be a donor.

A living donor has given part of an organ (liver, lung or pancreas) or one kidney from his/her own living body for transplantation, usually to a family member. A living donor’s remaining kidney will do the work of two kidneys. Because kidneys are matched genetically, donation from a family member may be more successful than from an unrelated donor. 

Transplant centers with living donor transplant programs coordinate living donations. Organizations like Gift of Hope coordinate donation after the donor’s death only. To learn more about becoming a living donor, talk to a transplant center that offers a program in your area.